You should carefully consider the following material risks in addition to the other information set forth in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q before making any investment in the offered securities. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial may also adversely affect our business. If any of these risk factors occurs, you could lose substantial value or your entire investment in the Company.
Risks Related To Financial Reporting Obligations
If we fail to establish and maintain proper and effective internal controls, our ability to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis could be impaired, which would adversely affect our consolidated operating results, our ability to operate our business and could cause our stock price to decline.
On January 25, 2011 the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors determined that the previously filed financial statements for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2009, the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009, the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2010, the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2010 and the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2010 should no longer be relied upon and needed to be restated to adjust the accounting for certain derivative instruments (the Series I Warrants issued by the Company in a private placement transaction in September 2009). We also determined that we did not maintain effective control over our accounting for the Series I Warrants and that a material weakness existed with respect to our reporting of complex, non-routine transactions (the Series I Warrants), as of the end of the periods covered by the Form 10-K and Form 10-Qs that included the financial statements referenced above. Although we subsequently restated all such financial statements and while we believe that we are currently maintaining effective control over our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting as regards this issue, we may in the future identify deficiencies regarding the design and effectiveness of our system of internal control over financial reporting that we engage in pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or Section 404, as part of our periodic reporting obligations. Such deficiencies could include those arising from our lack of technical accounting expertise in the interpretation of complex, non-routine transactions, which we may not be able to remediate in time to meet the continuing reporting deadlines imposed by Section 404 and the costs of which may harm our results of operations. In addition, if we were to fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal controls, as such standards are modified, supplemented or amended from time to time, we may not be able to ensure that our management can conclude in the future that we have effective internal controls. We also may not be able to retain an independent registered public accounting firm with sufficient resources to attest to and report on our internal controls in a timely manner. Moreover, our registered public accounting firm may not agree with our management’s future assessments and may deem our controls ineffective if we are unable to remediate on a timely basis. If in the future we are unable to assert that we maintain effective internal controls, our investors could lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports which could cause our stock price to decline.
Ensuring that we have adequate internal financial and accounting controls and procedures in place to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis is a costly and time-consuming effort that needs to be re-evaluated frequently. Failure on our part to have effective internal financial and accounting controls would cause our financial reporting to be unreliable, could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition and could cause the trading price of our common stock to fall dramatically.
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. As discussed in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, our audit committee and management, together with our independent registered public accounting firm, have identified a material weakness in the past and may identify additional deficiencies in the future.
We are subject to financial reporting and other requirements for which our accounting, internal audit and other management systems and resources may not be adequately prepared.
Beginning with our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010, we are required by SEC rules to include a report of management on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting in our annual reports. In addition, our independent registered public accounting firm auditing our financial statements is also required to provide attestation reports on our internal control commencing with our Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010.
The Company was not an accelerated filer prior to fiscal 2011 and therefore was not required to have an attestation report from our independent registered public accounting firm on our internal controls. We expect that these reporting and other obligations will increase for the Company in fiscal 2011 and in the future as a result of our change in status from a smaller reporting company to an accelerated filer for the 2011 fiscal year. We expect that these expanded reporting and other obligations, specifically the requirements as an “accelerated filer,” will place significant demands on our management, administrative, operational, internal audit and accounting resources and cause us to incur significant expenses. If we are unable to accomplish these objectives in a timely and effective fashion, our ability to comply with the financial reporting requirements and other rules that apply to reporting companies could be impaired.
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credit risk and higher levels of payment fraud;
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potentially adverse tax consequences; and
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other higher costs associated with doing business internationally.
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These risks could harm our international expansion efforts, which would in turn harm our business prospects.
Risks Related To Existing and Future Litigation
Our litigation against Aastra, Apple, Cisco, NEC, Siemens, Mitel and Avaya is ongoing, and we expect such litigation and the appeals process to be time-consuming and costly, which may adversely affect our financial condition and our ability to operate our business.
On August 11, 2010, we initiated a lawsuit by filing a complaint against Aastra, Apple, Cisco, NEC in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, pursuant to which we allege that these parties infringe on certain of our patents. We seek damages and injunctive relief. On January 12, 2011, we initiated a lawsuit by filing a complaint against Siemens and Mitel in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, pursuant to which we allege that these companies infringe two of our patents. On April 12, 2011 we amended the complaint to add Avaya Inc. as a defendant. We seek damages and injunctive relief.
We cannot assure you that any of these lawsuits will result in a final outcome that is favorable to our company or our stockholders.
We expect to allocate a significant amount of our existing cash on hand towards the fees and expenses associated these litigation matters. We anticipate that these legal proceedings could continue for several years and may require significant expenditures for legal fees and other expenses. In the event we are not successful through appeal and do not subsequently obtain monetary and injunctive relief, these litigation matters may significantly reduce our financial resources and have a material impact on our ability to continue our operations. The time and effort required of our management to effectively pursue these litigation matters may adversely affect our ability to operate our business, since time spent on matters related to the lawsuits will take away from the time spent on managing and operating our business.
While we believe Aastra, Apple, Cisco, NEC, Siemens, Mitel and Avaya infringe our patents, we can provide no assurance that we will be successful in our lawsuit through appeal.
We believe that Aastra, Apple, Cisco, NEC, Siemens, Mitel and Avaya infringe on certain of our patents, but obtaining and collecting a judgment against these parties may be difficult or impossible. Patent litigation is inherently risky and the outcome is uncertain. Aastra, Apple, Cisco, NEC, Siemens, Mitel and Avaya are all large, well-financed companies with substantially greater resources than us. We believe that these parties will devote a substantial amount of resources in an attempt to prove that either their products do not infringe our patents or that our patents are not valid and are unenforceable. At this time, we cannot predict the final outcome of these litigation matters.
We may commence additional legal proceedings against third parties who we believe are infringing on our intellectual property rights, and if we are forced to litigate to defend our intellectual property rights, or to defend claims by third parties against us relating to intellectual property rights, legal fees and court injunctions could adversely affect our financial condition or end our business.
Disputes regarding the ownership of technologies and intellectual property rights are common and we may have intellectual property infringement claims against other parties in addition to our claims against Aastra, Apple, Cisco, NEC, Siemens, Mitel and Avaya. If we commence actions against additional parties, we may incur significant expense and commit significant management time, which may adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. Moreover, there can be no assurance that we would be successful in any additional legal proceedings and the existence and outcome of any such litigation could harm our business. In addition, commencing lawsuits may lead to potential counterclaims which may preclude our ability to develop and commercialize products.
In connection with our patent enforcement actions, a court may rule that we have violated certain statutory, regulatory, federal, local or governing rules or standards, which may expose us to certain material liabilities.
In connection with any of our patent enforcement actions, it is possible that a defendant may request and/or a court may rule that we have violated statutory authority, regulatory authority, federal rules, local court rules, or governing standards relating to the substantive or procedural aspects of such enforcement actions. In such event, a court may issue monetary sanctions against us or award attorneys’ fees and/or expenses to a defendant, which could be material, and if we are required to pay such monetary sanctions, attorneys’ fees and/or expenses, such payment could materially harm our operating results and our financial position.
Risks Related to Our Business and Our Industry
We may or may not be able to capitalize on potential market opportunities related to our licensing strategy or our patent portfolio.
In order to capitalize on our patent portfolio, our business strategy calls for us to enter into licensing relationships with the leading companies in our target market in order to reach a larger end-user base than we could reach through direct sales and marketing efforts. Although we entered into a Settlement and License Agreement with Microsoft Corporation, there can be no assurance that we will be able to continue to capitalize on our patent portfolio or any potential market opportunity in the foreseeable future. Our inability to generate licensing revenues associated with the potential market opportunity could result from a number of factors, including, but not limited to:
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we may not be successful in entering into licensing relationships with our targeted customers on commercially acceptable terms; and
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challenges to the validity of certain of our patents underlying our licensing opportunities.
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We can provide no assurance that we will be successful in pursuing our business plan of commercializing our technology.
We expect to depend on our intellectual property licensing fees and royalties for the majority of our revenues. Our ability to generate licensing fees and royalties is dependent on mainstream market adoption of real-time communications based on Session Initiation Protocol or using DNS lookup protocols as well as customer adoption of our GABRIEL Communication Technology™ and our secure domain name registry. We cannot assure you that we will succeed in building a profitable business based on our business plan.
There has been increased competition for security solutions in the real-time communications industry, as more companies seek to provide products and services similar to our proposed products and services, and because larger and better-financed competitors may affect our ability to operate our business and achieve profitability, our business may fail.
We expect competition for our products and services to be intense. We expect to compete directly against other companies offering similar security products and services that will compete directly with our proposed products and services. We also expect that we will compete against established vendors within the IP-telephony, mobility, fixed-mobile convergence and unified communications markets. These companies may incorporate other competitive technologies into their product offerings, whether developed internally or by third parties. For the foreseeable future, substantially all of our competitors are likely to be larger, better-financed companies that may develop products superior to our proposed products, which could create significant competitive advantages for those companies. Our future success depends on our ability to compete effectively with our competitors. As a result, we may have difficulty competing with larger, established competitors. Generally, these competitors have:
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substantially greater financial, technical and marketing resources;
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a larger customer base;
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better name recognition; and
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more expansive product offerings.
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These competitors are likely to command a larger market share than us, which may enable them to establish a stronger competitive position, in part, through greater marketing opportunities. Further, our competitors may be able to respond more quickly to new or emerging technologies and changes in user preferences and to devote greater resources to developing and operating networks of affinity websites. These competitors may develop products or services that are comparable or superior. If we fail to address competitive developments quickly and effectively, we may not be able to remain a viable entity.
If we are not able to adequately protect our patented rights, our operations would be negatively impacted.
Our ability to compete largely depends on the superiority, uniqueness and value of our technology and intellectual property. To protect our intellectual property rights, we rely on a combination of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws, confidentiality agreements with our employees and third parties, and protective contractual provisions. Further, we can give no assurances that infringement or invalidity claims (or claims for indemnification resulting from infringement claims) will not be asserted or prosecuted against us or that any such assertions or prosecutions will not materially adversely affect our business.
Regardless of whether these or any future claims are valid or can be successfully asserted, defending against such claims could cause us to incur significant costs, could jeopardize or substantially delay a successful outcome in any future litigation, and could divert resources away from our other activities. In addition, assertion of infringement claims could result in injunctions that prevent us from distributing our products. In addition to challenges against our existing patents, any of the following could also reduce the value of our intellectual property now, or in the future:
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our applications for patents, trademarks and copyrights relating to our business may not be granted and, if granted, may be challenged or invalidated;
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issued trademarks, copyrights, or patents may not provide us with any competitive advantages;
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our efforts to protect our intellectual property rights may not be effective in preventing misappropriation of our technology; or
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our efforts may not prevent the development and design by others of products or technologies similar to or competitive with, or superior to those we develop.
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In addition, we may not be able to effectively protect our intellectual property rights in certain foreign countries where we may do business in the future or from which competitors may operate. While we have numerous pending foreign patents, obtaining such patents will not necessarily protect our technology or prevent our international competitors from developing similar products or technologies. Our inability to adequately protect our patented rights would have a negative impact on our operations and revenues.
In addition, legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability, and scope of protection of intellectual property rights in Internet-related businesses are uncertain and still evolving. Because of the growth of the Internet and Internet related businesses, patent applications are continuously and simultaneously being filed in connection with Internet-related technology. There are a significant number of U.S. and foreign patents and patent applications in our areas of interest, and we believe that there has been, and is likely to continue to be, significant litigation in the industry regarding patent and other intellectual property rights.
Our business and ability to grow are subject to risks associated with the ongoing financial crisis and weak global economy.
The continuing turmoil in the financial markets and weak global economy impacts our ability to enter into licensing and other customer agreements. Further, these conditions and uncertainty about future economic conditions make it challenging for us to forecast our operating results, make business decisions and identify the risks that may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. If we are not able to timely and appropriately adapt to changes resulting from the difficult macroeconomic environment, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be significantly negatively affected.
The burdens of being a public company may adversely affect our ability to pursue litigation.
As a public company, our management must devote substantial time, attention and financial resources to comply with U.S. securities laws. This may have a material adverse effect on management’s ability to effectively and efficiently pursue litigation as well as our other business initiatives. In addition, our disclosure obligations under U.S. securities laws require us to disclose information publicly that will be available to future litigation opponents. We may, from time to time, be required to disclose information that will have a material adverse affect on our litigation strategies. This information may enable our litigation opponents to develop effective litigation strategies that are contrary to our interests.
When we attempt to implement our secure domain name registry services business, we may be subject to government and industry regulation and oversight which may impede our ability to achieve our business strategy.
The U.S. government has historically controlled the authoritative domain name system, or DNS, root server since the inception of the Internet. On July 1, 1997, the President of the United States directed the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to privatize the management of the domain name system in a manner that increases competition and facilitates international participation in its management.
On September 29, 2006, the U.S. Department of Commerce extended its delegation of authority by entering into a new agreement with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, a California non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina Del Rey, California. ICANN is responsible for managing the accreditation of registry providers and registrars that manage the assignment of top level domain names associated with the authoritative DNS root directory. Although other DNS root directories are possible to create and manage privately without accreditation from ICANN, the possibility of conflicting name and number assignments makes it less likely that users would widely adopt a top level domain name associated with an alternative DNS root directory provided by a non-ICANN-accredited registry service.
We are currently evaluating whether we will apply to become an ICANN-accredited registry provider with respect to one or more customized gTLDs, or create our own alternative DNS root directory to manage the assignment of non-standard secure domain names. We have not yet begun discussions with ICANN and we cannot assure you that we will be successful in obtaining ICANN accreditation for our registry service on terms acceptable to us or at all. Whether or not we obtain accreditation from ICANN, we will be subject to the ongoing risks arising out of the delegation of the U.S. government’s responsibilities for the domain name system to the U.S. Department of Commerce and ICANN and the evolving government regulatory environment with respect to domain name registry services.
The laws governing online secure communications are largely unsettled, and if we become subject to various government regulations, costs associated with those regulations may materially adversely affect our business.
The current regulatory environment for our services remains unclear. We can give no assurance that our planned product offerings will be in compliance with local, state and/or U.S. federal laws or other laws. Further, we can give no assurance that we will not unintentionally violate such laws or that such laws will not be modified, or that new laws will be enacted in the future which would cause us to be in violation of such laws.
VoIP services are not currently subject to all of the same regulations that apply to traditional telephony. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has imposed some traditional telephony requirements on VoIP such as disability access requirements and other obligations. It is possible that federal and state legislatures may seek to impose increased fees and administrative burdens on VoIP, data and video providers. Such regulations could result in substantial costs depending on the technical changes required to accommodate the requirements, and any increased costs could erode the pricing advantage over competing forms of communication and adversely affect consumer adoption of VoIP products generally.
The use of the Internet and private IP networks to provide voice, video and other forms of real-time, two-way communications services is a relatively recent development. Although the provisioning of such services is currently permitted by U.S. law and is largely unregulated within the United States, several foreign governments have adopted laws and/or regulations that could restrict or prohibit the provisioning of voice communications services over the Internet or private IP networks. More aggressive domestic or international regulation of the Internet in general, and Internet telephony providers and services specifically, may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and future prospects, particularly if increased numbers of governments impose regulations restricting the use and sale of IP telephony services.
In addition to regulations addressing Internet telephony and broadband services, other regulatory issues relating to the Internet in general could affect our ability to provide our planned security solutions. Congress has adopted legislation that regulates certain aspects of the Internet, including online content, user privacy, taxation, liability for third-party activities and jurisdiction. In addition, a number of initiatives pending in Congress and state legislatures would prohibit or restrict advertising or sale of certain products and services on the Internet, which may have the effect of raising the cost of doing business on the Internet generally.
Our exposure to outside influences beyond our control, including new legislation, court rulings or actions by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, could adversely affect our licensing and enforcement activities and results of operations.
Our licensing and enforcement activities are subject to numerous risks from outside influences, including the following:
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New legislation, regulations or rules related to obtaining patents or enforcing patents could significantly increase our operating costs and decrease our revenue.
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Trial judges and juries sometimes find it difficult to understand complex patent enforcement litigation, and as a result, we may need to appeal adverse decisions by lower courts in order to successfully enforce our patents.
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More patent applications are filed each year resulting in longer delays in getting patents issued by the USPTO.
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Federal courts are becoming more crowded, and as a result, patent enforcement litigation is taking longer.
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As patent enforcement becomes more prevalent, it may become more difficult for us to voluntarily license our patents.
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If we experience security breaches, we could be exposed to liability and our reputation and business could suffer.
We will retain certain confidential customer information in our secure data centers and secure domain name registry. It will be critical to our business strategy that our facilities and infrastructure remain secure and are perceived by the marketplace to be secure. Our secure domain name registry operations will also depend on our ability to maintain our computer and telecommunications equipment in effective working order and to reasonably protect our systems against interruption, and potentially depend on protection by other registrars in the shared registration system. The secure domain name servers that we will operate will be critical hardware to our registry services operations. Therefore, we expect to have to expend significant time and money to maintain or increase the security of our facilities and infrastructure.
Security technologies are constantly being tested by computer professionals, academics and “hackers.” Advances in the techniques for attacking security solutions could make some or all of our products obsolete or unmarketable. Likewise, if any of our products are found to have significant security vulnerabilities, then we may need to dedicate engineering and other resources to eliminate the vulnerabilities and to repair or replace products already sold or licensed to our customers. Despite our security measures, our infrastructure may be vulnerable to physical break-ins, computer viruses, attacks by hackers or similar disruptive problems. It is possible that we may have to expend additional financial and other resources to address such problems. Any physical or electronic break-in or other security breach or compromise of the information stored at our secure data centers and domain name registration systems may jeopardize the security of information stored on our premises or in the computer systems and networks of our customers. In such an event, we could face significant liability and customers could be reluctant to use our services. Such an occurrence could also result in adverse publicity and therefore adversely affect the market’s perception of the security of electronic commerce and communications over IP networks as well as of the security or reliability of our services.
Our business greatly depends on the growth of IM, VoIP, mobile services, streaming video, file transfer and remote desktop and other next-generation Internet-based applications.
Next-generation Internet-based applications such as instant messaging, or IM, voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP, mobile services, streaming video, file transfer and remote desktop may not continue to gain widespread market acceptance. The Internet may ultimately prove not to be a viable commercial marketplace for such applications for a number of reasons, including:
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unwillingness of consumers to shift to VoIP and use other such next-generation Internet-based applications;
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refusal to purchase security products to secure information transmitted through such applications;
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perception by the licensees of unsecure communication and data transfer;
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lack of concern for privacy by licensees and users;
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limitations on access and ease of use;
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congestion leading to delayed or extended response times;
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inadequate development of Internet infrastructure to keep pace with increased levels of use; and
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increased government regulations.
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If the market for IM, VoIP, mobile services, streaming video, file transfer and remote desktop does not grow as anticipated, our business would be adversely affected.
The success of our products that secure IM, VoIP, mobile services, streaming video, file transfer and remote desktop, among other real-time communications applications, depends on the growth in the number of users, which in turn depends on the Internet gaining more widespread acceptance as the basis for these real-time communications applications. These real-time communications applications are still in early stages of market acceptance and we cannot assure you that they will continue to develop a broader audience. For example, potential new users may view VoIP as unattractive relative to traditional telephone services for a number of reasons, including the need to purchase computer headsets or the perception that the price advantage for VoIP is insufficient to justify the perceived inconvenience.
While the use of IM and other next-generation Internet-based applications has grown rapidly in personal and professional use, there can be no assurance that users will pay to secure their use of such applications.
Many services such as Microsoft, Yahoo! and America Online offer IM free of charge. However, security solutions for these services are not free, and OEMs may not want to adopt such security solutions if users of IM do not see the value and do not want to pay for such security solutions. If personal and professional users of IM and other next-generation Internet-based solutions do not want to pay for the security solutions, we will have difficulty marketing and selling our products and technologies.
We expect that we will experience long and unpredictable sales cycles, which may impact our operating results.
We expect that our sales cycles will be long and unpredictable due to a number of uncertainties such as:
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the need to educate potential customers about our patent rights and our product and service capabilities;
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customers’ willingness to invest potentially substantial resources and modify their network infrastructures to take advantage of our products;
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customers’ budgetary constraints;
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the timing of customers’ budget cycles; and
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delays caused by customers’ internal review processes.
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We expect that we will be substantially dependent on a concentrated number of customers. If we are unable to establish, maintain or replace our relationships with customers and develop a diversified customer base, our revenues may fluctuate and our growth may be limited.
We expect that in the future, a significant portion of our revenues will be generated from a limited number of customers. Substantially all of our income during fiscal year 2010 was from the payments to us resulting from the Settlement and License Agreement we entered into with Microsoft. There can be no guarantee that we will be able to obtain additional customers, or if we do so, to sustain our revenue levels from these prospective customers. If we are not able to establish, maintain or replace the limited group of prospective customers that we anticipate may generate a substantial majority of our revenues in the future, or if they do not generate revenues at the levels or at the times that we anticipate, our ability to maintain or grow our revenues will be adversely affected.
If we do not successfully develop our planned products and services in a cost-effective manner to customer demand in the rapidly evolving market for Internet and IP-based communications services, our business may fail.
The market for communications services is characterized by rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards, changes in customer needs and frequent new service and product introductions. We are currently focused on developing products to provide security solutions for real-time communications. Our future success will depend, in part, on our ability to use new technologies effectively, to continue to develop our technical expertise, to enhance our existing services and to develop new services that meet changing customer needs on a timely and cost-effective basis. We may not be able to adapt quickly enough to changing technology, customer requirements and industry standards. If we fail to use new technologies effectively, to develop our technical expertise and new services, or to enhance existing services on a timely basis, either internally or through arrangements with third parties, our product and service offerings may fail to meet customer needs, which would adversely affect our revenues and prospects for growth.
In addition, if we are unable, for technological, legal, financial or other reasons, to adapt in a timely manner to changing market conditions or customer requirements, we could lose customers, strategic alliances and market share. Sudden changes in user and customer requirements and preferences, the frequent introduction of new products and services embodying new technologies and the emergence of new industry standards and practices could render our existing products, services and systems obsolete. The emerging nature of products and services in the technology and communications industry and their rapid evolution will require that we continually improve the performance, features and reliability of our products and services. Our success will depend, in part, on our ability to:
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design, develop, launch and/or license our planned products, services and technologies that address the increasingly sophisticated and varied needs of our prospective customers; and
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respond to technological advances and emerging industry standards and practices on a cost-effective and timely basis.
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The development of our planned products and services and other patented technology involves significant technological and business risks and requires substantial expenditures and lead time. We may be unable to use new technologies effectively. Updating our technology internally and licensing new technology from third-parties may also require us to incur significant additional expenditures.
If our products do not gain market acceptance, we may not be able to fund future operations.
A number of factors may affect the market acceptance of our planned products or any other products we develop or acquire, including, among others:
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the price of our products relative to other products that seek to secure real-time communication;
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the perception by users of the effectiveness of our products;
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our ability to fund our sales and marketing efforts; and
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the effectiveness of our sales and marketing efforts.
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If our products do not gain market acceptance, we may not be able to fund future operations, including the development of new products and/or our sales and marketing efforts for our current products, which inability would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
We may incur significant expenses and damages because of liability claims.
An actual or perceived breach of our security solutions could result in a product liability claim against us. A substantial product liability claim against us could harm our operating results and financial condition. In addition, any actual or perceived breach of our security solution, whether or not caused by the failure of one of our products, could hurt our reputation and cause potential customers to turn to our competitors’ products.
Our products are highly technical and may contain undetected errors, which could cause harm to our reputation and adversely affect our business.
Our products are highly technical and complex and, when deployed, may contain errors or defects. Despite testing, some errors in our products may only be discovered after a product has been installed and used by customers. Any errors or defects discovered in our products after commercial release could result in failure to achieve market acceptance, loss of revenue or delay in revenue recognition, loss of customers and increased service and warranty cost, any of which could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, we could face claims for product liability, tort or breach of warranty, including claims relating to changes to our products made by our channel partners. The performance of our products could have unforeseen or unknown adverse effects on the networks over which they are delivered as well as on third-party applications and services that utilize our services, which could result in legal claims against us, harming our business. Furthermore, we expect to provide implementation, consulting and other technical services in connection with the implementation and ongoing maintenance of our products, which typically involves working with sophisticated software, computing and communications systems. We expect that our contracts with customers will contain provisions relating to warranty disclaimers and liability limitations, which may not be upheld. Defending a lawsuit, regardless of its merit, is costly and may divert management’s attention and adversely affect the market’s perception of us and our products. In addition, if our business liability insurance coverage proves inadequate or future coverage is unavailable on acceptable terms or at all, our business, operating results and financial condition could be adversely impacted.
Malfunctions of third-party communications infrastructure, hardware and software expose us to a variety of risks we cannot control.
In addition, our business will also depend upon the capacity, reliability and security of the infrastructure owned by third parties that we will use to deploy our offerings. We have no control over the operation, quality or maintenance of a significant portion of that infrastructure or whether or not those third parties will upgrade or improve their equipment. We depend on these companies to maintain the operational integrity of our connections. If one or more of these companies is unable or unwilling to supply or expand its levels of service to us in the future, our operations could be severely interrupted. Also, to the extent the number of users of networks utilizing our future products suddenly increases, the technology platform and secure hosting services which will be required to accommodate a higher volume of traffic may result in slower response times or service interruptions. System interruptions or increases in response time could result in a loss of potential or existing users and, if sustained or repeated, could reduce the appeal of the networks to users. In addition, users depend on real-time communications; outages caused by increased traffic could result in delays and system failures. These types of occurrences could cause users to perceive that our solution does not function properly and could therefore adversely affect our ability to attract and retain licensees, strategic partners and customers.
System failure or interruption or our failure to meet increasing demands on our systems could harm our business.
The success of our license and service offerings will depend on the uninterrupted operation of various systems, secure data centers and other computer and communication networks that we establish. To the extent the number of users of networks utilizing our future products suddenly increases, the technology platform and hosting services which will be required to accommodate a higher volume of traffic may result in slower response times, service interruptions or delays or system failures. Our systems and operations will also be vulnerable to damage or interruption from:
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power loss, transmission cable cuts and other telecommunications failures;
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damage or interruption caused by fire, earthquake, and other natural disasters;
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computer viruses or software defects; and
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physical or electronic break-ins, sabotage, intentional acts of vandalism, terrorist attacks and other events beyond our control.
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System interruptions or failures and increases or delays in response time could result in a loss of potential or existing users and, if sustained or repeated, could reduce the appeal of the networks to users. These types of occurrences could cause users to perceive that our solution does not function properly and could therefore adversely affect our ability to attract and retain licensees, strategic partners and customers.
Any significant problem with our systems or operations could result in lost revenue, customer dissatisfaction or lawsuits against us. A failure in the operation of our secure domain name registration system could result in the inability of one or more registrars to register and maintain secure domain names for a period of time. A failure in the operation or update of the master directory that we plan to maintain could result in deletion or discontinuation of assigned secure domain names for a period of time. The inability of the registrar systems we establish, including our back office billing and collections infrastructure, and telecommunications systems to meet the demands of an increasing number of secure domain name requests could result in substantial degradation in our customer support service and our ability to process registration requests in a timely manner.
Our ability to sell our solutions will be dependent on the quality of our technical support, and our failure to deliver high-quality technical support services could have a material adverse effect on our sales and results of operations.
If we do not effectively assist our customers in deploying our products, succeed in helping our customers quickly resolve post-deployment issues and provide effective ongoing support, or if potential customers perceive that we may not be able achieve to the foregoing, our ability to sell our products would be adversely affected, and our reputation with potential customers could be harmed. In addition, as we expand our operations internationally, our technical support team will face additional challenges, including those associated with delivering support, training and documentation in languages other than English. As a result, our failure to deliver and maintain high-quality technical support services to our customers could result in customers choosing to use our competitors’ products instead of ours in the future.
Telephone carriers have petitioned governmental agencies to enforce regulatory tariffs, which, if granted, would increase the cost of online communication, and such increase in cost may impede the growth of online communication and adversely affect our business.
Use of the Internet has over-burdened existing telecommunications infrastructures, and many high traffic areas have begun to experience interruptions in service. As a result, certain local telephone carriers have petitioned governmental agencies to enforce regulatory tariffs on IP telephony traffic that crosses over the traditional telephone networks. If any of these petitions or the relief that they seek is granted, the costs of communicating via online could increase substantially, potentially adversely affecting the growth in the use of online secure communications. Any of these developments could have an adverse effect on our business.
The departure of Kendall Larsen, our Chief Executive Officer and President, and/or other key personnel could compromise our ability to execute our strategic plan and may result in additional severance costs to us.
Our success largely depends on the skills, experience and efforts of our key personnel, including Kendall Larsen, our Chief Executive Officer and President. We have no employment agreements with any of our key executives that prevent them from leaving us at any time. In addition, we do not maintain key person life insurance for any of our officers or key employees. The loss of Mr. Larsen, or our failure to retain other key personnel, would jeopardize our ability to execute our strategic plan and materially harm our business.
We will need to recruit and retain additional qualified personnel to successfully grow our business.
Our future success will depend in part on our ability to attract and retain qualified operations, marketing and sales personnel as well as engineers. Inability to attract and retain such personnel could adversely affect our business. Competition for engineering, sales, marketing and executive personnel is intense, particularly in the technology and Internet sectors and in the regions where our facilities are located. We can provide no assurance that we will attract or retain such personnel.
Growth of internal operations and business may strain our financial resources.
We may need to significantly expand the scope of our operating and financial systems in order to build our business. Our growth rate may place a significant strain on our financial resources for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to, the following:
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the need for continued development of the financial and information management systems;
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the need to manage relationships with future licensees, resellers, distributors and strategic partners;
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the need to hire and retain skilled management, technical and other personnel necessary to support and manage our business; and
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the need to train and manage our employee base.
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The addition of new infrastructure services, networks, vertical categories and affinity websites and the attention they demand, may also strain our management resources. We cannot give you any assurance that we will adequately address these risks and, if we do not, our ability to successfully expand our business could be adversely affected.
If we expand into international markets, our inexperience outside the United States would increase the risk that our international expansion efforts will not be successful, which would in turn limit our prospects for growth.
We may explore expanding our business to outside the United States. Expansion into international markets requires significant management attention and financial resources. In addition, we may face the following risks associated with any expansion outside the United States:
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challenges caused by distance, language and cultural differences;
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legal, legislative and regulatory restrictions;
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currency exchange rate fluctuations;
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longer payment cycles in some countries;
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The Company may not be able to successfully manage the rapid growth of the Company’s business.
The Company experienced significant growth during fiscal 2010 primarily as a result of the income it recognized pursuant to the Settlement and License Agreement with Microsoft. This growth places additional demands on the Company’s managerial, administrative and operational resources. Failure to manage growth effectively could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s prospects and the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition.
Risks Related to Our Stock
We do not intend to pay regular future dividends on our common stock and thus stockholders must look to appreciation of our common stock to realize a gain on their investments.
Although we paid a special cash dividend to holders of our common stock with a record date of July 1, 2010, we do not have any plans to continue paying dividends in the foreseeable future. Instead, we currently intend to retain any future earnings for funding growth. Our future dividend policy is within the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon various factors, including our business, financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, and investment opportunities. Accordingly, stockholders must look solely to appreciation of our common stock to realize a gain on their investment. This appreciation may not occur.
The exercise of our outstanding warrants or stock options may result in a dilution of our current stockholders’ voting power and an increase in the number of shares eligible for future resale in the public market which may negatively impact the market price of our stock.
The exercise of some or all of our outstanding warrants could significantly dilute the ownership interests of our existing stockholders. As of March 31, 2011, we had outstanding warrants to purchase an aggregate of 840,079 shares of common stock. To the extent outstanding warrants are exercised, additional shares of common stock will be issued, and such issuance may dilute existing stockholders and increase the number of shares eligible for resale in the public market. Additionally, the issuance of up to 3,505,268 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of vested stock options and other stock awards outstanding as of March 31, 2011 pursuant to our stock incentive plan may further dilute our existing stockholders’ voting interest.
In addition to the dilutive effects described above, the exercise of those securities would lead to a potential increase in the number of shares eligible for resale in the public market. Sales of substantial numbers of such shares in the public market could adversely affect the market price of our shares.
The fair value of accounting for our Series I Warrants as derivative liabilities may materially impact our results of our operations in future periods.
In connection with the restatement of our financial results to correct the accounting for the Series I Warrants, we recorded the Series I Warrants as a derivative liability in accordance with ASC 815-40, “Derivatives and Hedging – Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity.” These derivative liabilities are reported at fair value each reporting period with changes in the fair value recognized as gain or loss during each reporting period. An increase in our stock price or measure of our stock price volatility, for example, will generally result in an increase in the fair value of our warrant liability and a non-cash charge during the period of such increase, and could materially and negatively impact our results of operations in future periods.
Trading in our common stock is limited and the price of our common stock may be subject to substantial volatility, particularly in light of the instability in the financial and capital markets.
Our common stock is listed on NYSE Amex, but its daily trading volume has been limited, sporadic and volatile. Over the past years the market price of our common stock has experienced significant fluctuations. Between March 31, 2010 and March 31, 2011, the reported last sale price for our common stock has ranged between $4.80 and $20.52 per share. The price of our common stock may continue to be volatile as a result of a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the following:
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developments in any then-outstanding litigation;
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quarterly variations in our operating results;
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large purchases or sales of common stock;
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actual or anticipated announcements of new products or services by us or competitors;
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general conditions in the markets in which we compete; and
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economic and financial conditions.
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Because ownership of our common shares is concentrated, investors may have limited influence on stockholder decisions.
As of March 31, 2011, our executive officers and directors beneficially owned approximately 24% of our then outstanding common stock. In addition, a group of stockholders that, as of December 31, 2007, held 4,766,666 shares, or approximately 12% of our then outstanding common stock, have entered into a voting agreement with us that requires them to vote all of their shares of our voting stock in favor of the director nominees approved by our Board of Directors at each director election going forward, and in a manner that is proportional to the votes cast by all other voting shares as to any other matters submitted to the stockholders for a vote. However, we cannot be certain how many shares of our common stock this group of stockholders currently owns. Because of their beneficial ownership interest, our officers and directors could significantly influence stockholder actions of which you disapprove or that are contrary to your interests. This ability to exercise significant influence could prevent or significantly delay another company from acquiring or merging with us.
Securities analysts may not cover our common stock and this may have a negative impact on our common stock’s market price.
The trading market for our common stock may depend on the research and reports that securities analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. There is no guarantee that securities analysts will cover our common stock. If securities analysts do not cover our common stock, the lack of research coverage may adversely affect our common stock’s market price. If we are covered by securities analysts, and our stock is downgraded, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases to cover us or fails to publish regularly reports on us, we could lose or fail to gain visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.
Our protective provisions could make it difficult for a third party to successfully acquire us even if you would like to sell your shares to them.
We have a number of protective provisions that could delay, discourage or prevent a third party from acquiring control of us without the approval of our Board of Directors. Our protective provisions include:
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A staggered Board of Directors
: This means that only one or two directors (since we have a five-person Board of Directors) will be up for election at any given annual meeting. This has the effect of delaying the ability of stockholders to effect a change in control of us since it would take two annual meetings to effectively replace at least three directors which represents a majority of the Board of Directors.
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Blank check preferred stock
: Our Board of Directors has the authority to establish the rights, preferences and privileges of our 10,000,000 authorized, but unissued, shares of preferred stock. Therefore, this stock may be issued at the discretion of our Board of Directors with preferences over your shares of our common stock in a manner that is materially dilutive to existing stockholders. In addition, blank check preferred stock can be used to create a “poison pill” which is designed to deter a hostile bidder from buying a controlling interest in our stock without the approval of our Board of Directors. We have not adopted such a “poison pill;” but our Board of Directors has the ability to do so in the future, very rapidly and without stockholder approval.
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Advance notice requirements for director nominations and for new business to be brought up at stockholder meetings
: Stockholders wishing to submit director nominations or raise matters to a vote of the stockholders must provide notice to us within very specific date windows and in very specific form in order to have the matter voted on at a stockholder meeting. This has the effect of giving our Board of Directors and management more time to react to stockholder proposals generally and could also have the effect of disregarding a stockholder proposal or deferring it to a subsequent meeting to the extent such proposal is not raised properly.
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No stockholder actions by written consent
: No stockholder or group of stockholders may take actions rapidly and without prior notice to our Board of Directors and management or to the minority stockholders. Along with the advance notice requirements described above, this provision also gives our Board of Directors and management more time to react to proposed stockholder actions.
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Super majority requirement for stockholder amendments to the By-laws
: Stockholder proposals to alter or amend our By-laws or to adopt new By-laws can only be approved by the affirmative vote of at least 66 2/3% of the outstanding shares.
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Elimination of the ability of stockholders to call a special meeting of the stockholders
: Only the Board of Directors or management can call special meetings of the stockholders. This could mean that stockholders, even those who represent a significant block of our shares, may need to wait for the annual meeting before nominating directors or raising other business proposals to be voted on by the stockholders.
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In addition, the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporate Law govern us. These provisions may prohibit large stockholders, in particular those owning 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock, from merging or combining with us for a certain period of time.
These and other provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our By-laws and under Delaware law could discourage potential takeover attempts, reduce the price that investors might be willing to pay for shares of our common stock in the future and result in the market price being lower than it would be without these provisions.